1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector fitting structure in which the resilient force of a resilient member mounted on at least one of a pair of male and female connectors, which are designed to be connected together, prevents the male and female connectors from being partially connected.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-217775, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, many electronic equipments for effecting various controls are mounted on a vehicle (e.g., an automobile etc.), and therefore there have naturally been extensively used many wire harnesses and cables for electrically connecting the equipments to an electric power source and for electrically connecting the equipments to other equipments. This connector has a waterproof function since it is used in a severe environment in which vibrations and submergence are encountered, and besides the connector has various functions so that the connection and disconnection of a wire harness or the like can be easily effected during an assembling process and at the time of maintenance.
Next, one example of connector fitting structures will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11.
As shown in FIG. 8, a male connector (one connector) 50 of the connector fitting structure includes an inner housing 52, which has terminal receiving chambers for respectively receiving a predetermined number of socket contacts, and is open to the front side thereof, and an outer housing 51 which has a slider 60 (described later) slidably mounted in an upper portion thereof, and forms a hood portion covering the outer periphery of the inner housing 52.
The outer housing 51 is provided to form a slider receiving portion 53 for receiving the slider 60, and guide grooves 55 for respectively guiding opposite side portions of the slider 60 are formed respectively in inner surfaces of opposite side walls of the housing. Within the slider receiving portion 53, a lock arm 56, having a free end (front end in a direction of the axis in a connector fitting direction), is formed integrally on the inner housing 52.
A pair of housing locks 58 for retaining engagement with engagement projections 83 (see FIG. 9) on a mating housing (described later) are formed on an upper surface of the lock arm 56 at the distal end thereof, and a pressing portion 59, which is operated when canceling the fitted condition, is formed on a central portion of the lock arm. An insertion space 56a for allowing the insertion of a pressing rib 82 on a female connector 80 (described later) is formed in a front portion of the lock arm 56 including the housing locks 58.
A pair of retaining arms 57 for temporarily preventing the rearward movement of the slider 60 are provided at a rear portion of the slider receiving portion 53, and each of these retaining arms has a retaining projection formed at its free end (rear end in the direction of the axis in the connector fitting direction).
The slider 60 comprises a first slide member 61 for sliding movement in the slider receiving portion 53 while guided by the guide grooves 55, a second slide member 66 engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member 61, and compression springs (resilient members) 73 held in the second slide member.
The first slide member 61 includes a pair of rearwardly-extending stopper arm portions 63 and 63, which are engaged respectively with front ends of the compression springs 73, and an interconnecting portion 64 interconnecting these arm portions. An abutment portion 65, against which the pressing rib 82 on the female connector 80, can abut, is formed in the lower side of the interconnecting portion 64. A pair of slide grooves 62 and 62 for allowing the movement of engagement arms (described later) of the second slide member 66 are formed in opposite ends of the interconnecting portion 64, respectively.
The second slide member 66 is slidably fitted at its outer side portions in the guide grooves 55, and has retaining portions 67 which extend forwardly from a lower portion of a front end thereof, and respectively retain the housing locks 58, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 56, when the lock arm is displaced. A passage notch 67a for allowing the passage of the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80 (described later) is formed between front ends of the retaining portions 67.
An elastic operating portion 69, which is pressed when canceling the fitted condition, is formed at an upper portion of the second slide member 66 at a widthwise-central portion thereof, and this operating portion 69 covers the pressing portion 59 of the lock arm 56 in overlying relation thereto when the slider is inserted into the slider receiving portion 53.
The pair of elastic engagement arms 68 for retaining engagement with the stopper arm portions 63 of the first slide member 61 are provided respectively at the opposite side portions of the second slide member 66 at a lower portion thereof. Spring receiving chambers 71 for respectively receiving and holding the compression springs 73 are formed respectively in inner surfaces of the opposite side walls of the second slide member 66. The compression springs 73 are inserted respectively into the spring receiving chambers 71, and the engagement arm portions 68 are brought into engagement with the stopper arm portions 63, respectively, and by doing so, the first slide member 61 and the second slide member 66 are combined together in a generally unitary manner.
As shown in FIG. 9, the female connector 80 has a housing insertion port 84 open to the front side thereof, and a predetermined number of pin contacts 85 project into the interior of this insertion port in a fitting direction. The pressing rib 82 for abutment against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61 is formed upright on a central portion of an outer surface of the housing 81. The pair of engagement projections 83 and 83 for elastically deforming the lock arm 56 and for engagement with the housing locks 58 are formed respectively on opposite side surfaces of the pressing rib 82 at the front end thereof.
Next, the operation for fitting the male and female connectors of the above construction together will be described.
First, the slider 60, shown in FIG. 8, is assembled. For assembling the slider 60, the pair of compression springs 73 are inserted respectively into spring receiving chambers 71 in the second slide member 66, and then the stopper arm portions 63 and 63 of the first slide member 61 are inserted into the spring receiving chambers 71, respectively. The pair of engagement arm portions 68 and 68 are engaged respectively with the stopper arm portions 63, thereby combining the first and second slide members 61 and 66 together into a unitary form, with the compression springs 73 held respectively in the spring receiving chambers 71.
For mounting the slider 60 on the male connector 50, the slider 60 is pushed into the slider receiving portion 53 from the front side of the male connector 50. At this time, the outer side portions of the stopper arm portions 63 of the first slide member 61, the opposite end portions of the interconnecting portion 64, and the opposite side portions of the second slide member 66 are fitted into the guide grooves 55, and the rear end of the second slide member 66 is brought into abutting engagement with the retaining arms 57 whereupon the mounting of the slider 60 is completed. In this condition, the slider 60 is temporarily retained by the retaining arms 57, but a compression force is not exerted in the compression springs 73. Here, description of the insertion of the contacts into the terminal receiving chambers in the male connector 50 is omitted.
Next, the fitting of the male and female connectors 50 and 80 relative to each other will be described.
The inner housing 52 of the male connector 59 and the housing insertion port 84 of the female connector 80 are arranged in facing relation to each other as shown in FIG. 9, and in this condition the operation for fitting the male and female connectors 50 and 80 is started in such a manner that the outer housing 51 of the male connector 50 is fitted on the housing 81 of the female connector 80. At this time, the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80 fits into the passage notch 67a in the second slide member 66, and the front end of the pressing rib 82 abuts against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61 as shown in FIG. 10.
When the fitting operation further proceeds, the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80, while pressing the first slide member 61, is inserted into the insertion space 56a in the lock arm 56 of the male connector 50. At this time, the engagement projections 83, formed at the front end of the pressing rib 82, are brought into sliding contact with slanting surfaces of the housing locks 58, formed at the distal end of the lock arm 56, so that the distal end portion of the lock arm 56 is displaced toward the housing 81 of the female connector 80.
As a result, the distal ends of the housing locks 58 are engaged respectively with the retaining portions 67 of the second slide member 66, so that the second slide member 66 can not slide together with the first slide member 61.
When the fitting operation further proceeds, the first slide member 61 is pushed by the pressing rib 82, and therefore is moved rearward. At this time, the engagement arm portions 68 of the second slide member 66 are allowed to be introduced respectively into the slide grooves 62 formed respectively in the opposite side portions of the first slide member 61. Thus, the first slide member 61 is moved while the second slide member 66 is stopped, and therefore the compression springs 73 in the second slide member 66 are compressed, so that a resilient restoring force is produced.
If the fitting operation is stopped in a half-fitted condition in which the housing locks 58 of the male connector 50 are not completely engaged respectively with the engagement projections 83 of the female connector 80, the first slide member 61 is pushed back in a disengaging direction (opposite to the fitting direction) by the resilient force of the compression springs 73. As a result, the female connector 80 is pushed back through the pressing rib 82 abutted against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61, and therefore the half-fitted condition can be easily detected.
Then, when the fitting operation further proceeds against the bias of the compression springs 73, the engagement projections 83 of the female connector 80 slide respectively past the housing locks 58 formed at the distal end of the lock arm 56. As a result, the engagement of the distal end of each housing lock 58 with the retaining portion 67, formed at the distal end of the second slide member 66, is canceled, so that the housing lock 58 is engaged with the rear end of the engagement projection 83, as shown in FIG. 10. Therefore, the male connector 50 and the female connector 80 are completely fitted together, and contacts 54 in the male connector are electrically connected respectively to contacts 85 in the female connector.
At this time, the resilient force, exerted in the compression springs 73, is released as a result of cancellation of the engagement of each housing lock 58 with the retaining portion 67, and the second slide member 66 is moved rearward against the retaining force of the retaining arms 57, and is brought into an initial position relative to the first slide member 61. At this time, the operating portion 69, so far covering the pressing portion 59, is moved rearward, so that the pressing portion 59 is exposed upwardly.
Also, the retaining portions 67 of the second slide member 66 are moved into a flexure space for the distal end portion of the lock arm 56, so that the lock arm 56 is locked against elastic deformation. Therefore, the completely-fitted condition of the male and female connectors 50 and 80 can be easily detected through a feeling, obtained upon engagement of each housing lock 58 with the engagement projection 83, and also through the exposure of the pressing portion 59.
For canceling the completely-fitted condition as shown in FIG. 11, the operating portion 69 of the second slide member 66 is moved forward by the finger or other against the bias of the compression springs 73 to a position where this operating portion 69 covers the pressing portion 59 of the lock arm 56. Then, the operating portion 69 is pressed to depress the pressing portion 59, so that the housing locks 58 of the lock arm 56 is displaced downward. As a result, the engagement of the housing locks 58 with the engagement projections 83 is canceled. At this time, the first slide member 61 is pushed forward by the resilient force of the compressed compression springs 73.
As a result, the female connector 80 is pushed back in the disengaging direction through the pressing rib 82 of the female connector 80 abutted against the abutment portion 65 of the first slide member 61. Therefore, the disengaging force, required for disengaging the connectors from each other, can be reduced, and the efficiency of the disengaging operation can be enhanced.
In the above-described connector fitting structure, the bottom portion of the second slide member 66 is abutted against the retaining arms 57, formed at the bottom of the slider receiving chamber 53, in the initial condition as described above, and when the mating connector 80 is fitted, the second slide member slides over the retaining arms. When canceling the fitted condition, the operating portion 69 is pushed to cause the second slide member 66 to slide over the retaining arms 57 in the direction opposite to the direction of movement of this second slide member during the fitting operation. However, any effect for assisting the second slide member 66 in sliding over is not provided, and therefore the efficiency of the fitting operation, as well as the efficiency of the fitting-cancellation operation, was not entirely good.
And besides, in the initial condition, the bottom portion of the second slide member 66 is merely abutted against the retaining arms 57, and therefore the force of holding the slider 60 in the slider receiving chamber 53 before the fitting relative to the mating connector was not sufficient against an impact or the like applied from the exterior.
With the above problems in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector fitting structure in which a half-fitted condition is positively prevented when a pair of male and female connectors are fittingly connected together, and the operability for the fitting operation and the operability for the fitting-cancellation operation are enhanced.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector fitting structure which comprises:
a first connector including an inner housing having an opening at a front side thereof, an outer housing covering the inner housing and having therein a slider receiving portion, and a lock arm formed on the inner housing;
a second connector fittable to the first connector, the second connector including a second housing, and an engagement projection, for elastically deforming the lock arm, formed on the second housing;
a slider slidably insertable into the slider receiving portion of the outer housing, the slider having one end to be abutted against the engagement projection, the slider including a first slide member, a second slide member engaged with a rear portion of the first slide member, and a resilient member resiliently urging the first and second slide members away from each other;
a plurality of first engagement arms respectively formed on opposite side portions of an upper portion of the second slide member, wherein when the slider is inserted into the slider receiving portion, the first engagement arms are respectively engaged with first retaining portions formed on an inner surface of the outer housing; and
a plurality of third engagement arms respectively formed on opposite side portions of a lower portion of the second slide member, wherein when the slider is inserted into the slider receiving portion, the third engagement arms are engaged with a third retaining portion formed on an inner surface of the outer housing, and wherein when the first and second connectors are fitted to each other, an engaged condition of the third engagement arms is canceled.
In the connector fitting structure according to the first aspect of the present invention, before the male and female connectors are fitted together, the first engagement arms are respectively engaged with the first retaining portions, and also the third engagement arms are engaged with the third retaining portion. When the male and female connectors are fitted together, the engagement of the first engagement arms with the first retaining portions is canceled, and also the engagement of the third engagement arms with the third retaining portion is forcibly canceled. Accordingly, the slider can be positively held in position until an initial stage of the fitting of the male and female connectors, and besides the operability for the fitting operation and the operability for the fitting-cancellation operation can be enhanced.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the connector fitting structure may further comprise an operating portion operative to cancel a fitted condition of the first and second connectors, the operating portion being formed on an upper surface of the second slide member; and a second engagement arm formed beneath the operating portion, wherein when the slider is inserted into the slider receiving portion, the second engagement arm is engaged with the lock arm to prevent withdrawal of the slider.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the connector fitting structure may further comprise second retaining portions respectively formed on distal end portions of the first engagement arms, the second retaining portions being engaged respectively with the first retaining portions.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the third retaining portion may have a step-like shape.